Germany could consider sanctions against Nord Stream 2 / Article / LSM.lv

Germany could consider sanctions against Nord Stream 2Uģis Lībietis00:00 / 03:10

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If Russia does not provide sufficient explanations for the poisoning of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, Germany will decide to impose sanctions on Moscow. Such sanctions could also apply to the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. However, experts predict that such sanctions are unlikely due to German domestic policy and business pressure.

As Alexei Navalny, one of Russia’s most prominent opposition leaders, continues treatment in Germany after the Novicok nerve gas poisoning, discussions are also underway as to whether and what the response of European countries to the poisoning should be. Western leaders have expressed outrage at the first use of chemical weapons on Russian territory.

As German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas pointed out in an interview with the German newspaper Bild today, there is ample evidence that the Russian authorities are behind the crime. According to him, if Russia does not explain in the coming days how such poisoning may have taken place, Germany will be forced to discuss possible targeted sanctions with its allies. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who has denied Russia’s involvement in the poisoning of Navalny, stressed that Berlin has yet to share the evidence with Russian prosecutors.

Nor has Heiko Sister ruled out the possibility that EU-level sanctions could be targeted at the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, which will transport Russian gas to Germany. Although Germany and Russia are allies in this project, the Sister expressed hope that the cooperation would not have to be reviewed. Russia’s RIA news agency, referring to Bloomberg, reports that there are no such sanctions in the current German ruling coalition.

In his video block for the radio station Echo Moscow, the Russian economist Sergei Alexashenko also expressed confidence that sanctions against Nord Stream 2 would hardly be imposed, as it would not be beneficial for German companies. In addition, this would not be a major loss for Russia either, as it has a very extensive gas pipeline network to supply natural gas to Europe. Alexeyenko believes that other types of sanctions would be more effective:

“Europe will think and scratch everything it can. And after a long scraping, nothing will happen. There is one sanction that the European Union could impose. It is the withdrawal of all its ambassadors and the downgrading of diplomatic relations. It would be a very strong and demonstrative move. that Putin is a creature that cannot be shaken, that, like in 2015 after the aggression in Ukraine, no one wants to sit at the same table, that he is a creature from another world, a creature that lives by different rules and does not understand modern, “But there is something that makes me think that the European Union will not take any serious steps, because real politics is forcing Europe to talk to Putin and Russia, just as before World War II, Western European countries were forced to talk to Hitler and Germany,” Alexashenko said.

During this week, the Russian National Medical Chamber, led by Dr. Rosal, approached German physicians with a proposal to form a joint commission of experts to understand exactly what happened to Alexei Navalny. Maria Zaharova, a spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, accused the German authorities this morning of deliberately delaying the investigation.

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